Jet lag and general reorientation (disorientation?) have kept me from posting this past week, but not of course, from antiquing. I have managed to visit most of my usual haunts here on the northern New Jersey shore before even making it to the supermarket, which luckily for my children, I finally did today. The sad news for me is that I have not managed to find anything on my “need” list for the beach house, nor anything on my “just want” list, which means I will have to cast my net further afield. Hopefully that will yield some good posts too.
One item that did catch my eye at many of the shops I visited were antique/vintage glass insulators. I know I have a strong following of blue-green glass and fishing float junkies, so I thought these might satisfy an itch. I have seen them on occasion, but not particularly noticed them until I saw this group lying in a trunk amidst vintage rolling pins at the Point Pleasant Antique Emporium.
Once I noticed them, I saw them all over the Emporium…
…as well as other places, such as the Point Pavillion Antiques Center.
Historically used to insulate telegraph wires (glass does not conduct electricity well), these glass insulators are no longer in use and have become collectible. As you might expect, there are entire websites devoted to their study and sale. At The Insulator Store, some of the rarer pieces are described in language that makes them sound like diamonds or champagne; “An absolutely dazzling Roman Helmet, in a brilliant shade of green. This particular piece has loads of charm – a few faint amber wisps, great color variation and some light fizz in the ears.”
The beauty shown and described above is $173 at the Insulator Store, one of many unusual ones stocked there, including a Mickey Mouse shape! Most of the insulators I saw were basic blue or clear and quite simple, priced in the $3-$5 range.
What should you do with them, you ask? Well, one of the simplest ways to display them is along a window ledge, allowing the sun to shine through.
Turning them into small pendant lights seems to be popular too.
And another version with the insulator hanging upside down.
The Lamp Shop sells a conversion kit for glass insulators which I found in a post on Katy Elliot’s blog. There is also a link for cork sockets, perfect for turning glass jugs into lamps, so I plan on doing that to one of my great finds back in Tokyo.
And since I am now in New Jersey, why not show you how weird and wonderful it can be? Stanley Hammell has been collecting glass insulators for the past 15 or so years, but more importantly, he has been displaying them around his property in Pomona.
Trumps the windowsill display…
Image credits: 1-3 & 5. me, 4. via The Insulator Store, 6. available at Railroadware, photo via Remodelista, 7. via Retro Renovation, 8. via Weird N.J.
George
Brilliant! This might just be ticket for hanging bed room / reading lights in Fu’s room!
Tokyo Jinja
I think that would be adorable!
Robin
No rest for the jet lagged & Mac adverse! The pendant lights are a neat idea. The Weird N.J. was an interesting discovery.
lisa jardine
i have a feeling there will be a big increase in web traffic for the cork lamp kit. its the perfect solution to what to do with the big jugs everyone buys in tokyo!
Tokyo Jinja
I am planning on bringing some back with me. Let me know if you want one!
Angela
Often seen this at Oedo but had no clue what they were, just pretty colours!!!
Tokyo Jinja
I haven’t really noticed them in Japan. Were they the same? With english writing on them?
Tim Leefeldt
The picture you are using should have a photo credit Insulatorlights.com and link to my website. These are The Original Insulatorlights – Thanks.
Now there are a bunch of sites showing these cool insulator lights in different configurations. Because of the bulb burn-out rate railroadware.com and insulatorlights.com is the only manufacturer that has solved the high burn-out rate.
Nice collection of insulators and some of their uses. What a fence in Pamona! I don’t think the Japanese imported insulators from the US, so knowing the Japanese, I am sure there are some unique insulators along their telephone and railroad lines.
Please visit http://www.insulatorlights.com for more upcycled uses of insulators and many other products with new uses.
Come visit the original Insulator light website
Tokyo Jinja
Added your website to the photo credit! Sorry about that!